When materials are machined by means of a drill bit claimed herein, the chip formation is generally controllable during drilling, even in the case of long-chipping materials. The chips are broken into short segments and safely transported as individual helical chips away from the cutting edge of the drill bit. In counterbore applications, long ribbon chips are usually formed when long-chipping materials are machined, frequently wrapping around the tool and making further use thereof impossible. In this case, there is a risk that the drill bit will break off and the work piece will be damaged. In order to prevent the formation of such chips, the advancement of the drill bit is briefly halted or reversed in many cases during the machining of a work piece. However, this leads to longer machining times, and to increased wear as a result of the alternating loads on the drill bit. If the drill bit is designed as a step drill bit—that is, a combination of a solid drill bit and a counterbore bit in a single tool, the chips milled out by the solid bit cutting edges and the counterbore bit cutting edges frequently foul in each other and form a ball, which frequently leads to the tool breaking or to damage to the cutting edges.